Earlier this year, I sent some of my Europe travel business to British Airways because of the convenient timings I had for travel to Europe (twice daily) rather than once daily. It involved backtracking as well, and the pains of getting a visa, but that added so much flexibility to my travel plans as well, because I could spend another night at home rather than having to necessarily take a midnight flight out of India all the time to go to continental Europe. One of my earlier trips this year, British Airways bumped me up from Economy to Premium Economy, due to the Economy cabin being overbooked. And that was the first time I really started to appreciate the Premium…

Cathay Pacific has been adding Premium Economy seats since early 2012 to its planes over the past months, and has steadily introduced it on the Indian flights as well. To promote the Premium Economy product, they are offering double miles for travel in Premium Economy, wherever the service is available. From India, this was available on the Delhi – Hong Kong route and will be made available on the Mumbai – Hong Kong Route from March 2, 2013 onwards. The Hyderabad & Chennai flights are also being upgraded. If you are a new member to the Asia Miles product, you will additionally earn 500 miles to sign on. For this promotion, you need to register, and then book tickets in…

Back in December, I had written about the new Cathay Pacific Premium Economy product which was going to be launched in Q1 2012, and put up on Sydney, Toronto, New York and Vancouver flights from Hong Kong, before being put out on the rest of the network. These seats will have a separate cabin of their own, which will be not more than 34 seats at any time. So, privacy is assured, unlike some other Premium Eco products where you only get a better seat but in the front of the same cabin. Welcome drinks, including Champagne, will be offered, and the meals will be better than Y. Top it off with a big amenity kit, and noise cancelling headphones…

Cathay is quite easily a very likeable airline, and I love them for all the shorthauls I do when travelling around Hong Kong on work trips. However, now they are giving me a reason to try out their long haul product, with the launch of the Premium Economy Class in March 2012. These will be introduced first on the routes to Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver and New York, followed by London, LA, San Francisco and continental Europe. The announcement made to members of the Marco Polo Club loyalty program detail the added benefits of the Premium Economy class which is, much more than just the seat! According to Cathay, there will be a separate priority check-in and priority boarding over Economy…